Hold that Press Release – Street Lights Not Just Luke’s Bright Idea

The press release from Luke Ravenstahl’s office that was posted here yesterday caught my eye.  I have been following the idea of LED street lights since I first read about New York City switching to LED street lights in the November 2008 issue of Wired Magazine.

Given the discussion this week around Luke’s decision to spend $250k on trash cans – any talk of spending from the mayor’s office seems to stick out more than usual.

But wait – there is more…

A couple of blog posts point out that Luke’s took too much credit for Bob O’connors Market Square ideas. the post What about Bob, from the PG’s Early Returns links to both Matt H and Chris Schultz’s posts on who really championed Market Square.

Do Luke and Yarone really not read the blogs?  They are at it again with the LED lights.  Why is there no mention of Peduto in this press release?  After reading this post on the PG – it is really starting to look like Team Luke is getting defensive.

On December 15, 2008 the Post-Gazette ran this article – Peduto proposes LED street lights

The city should convert its 40,000 old-fashioned street-light bulbs to green-friendly LED lights, Councilman William Peduto announced today. The conversion would cost $24 million, but yearly cost savings of $2.7 million could be used to pay for the upgrade, as well as a state-funded energy program.

LED lights use less power than old bulbs and last years longer, which would account for the annual savings, according to Mr. Peduto’s office. He is urging the city to apply for funding through the state’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Agreement and issue a Request for Proposals from interested lighting companies to perform a six-month test run of the bulbs. The lights have already been tested along Walnut Street in Shadyside, which Mr. Peduto represents.